Privatized Social Security - where will the money go?

[Morning Dew]

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10059.html

<snip>
The Social Security and Medicare tax rate for employees and employers is 7.65 percent each. Of that rate, 6.2 percent is used to finance Social Security retirement, disability, and survivors benefits,

<snip>

If shrubco privatizes SS, where will this money go? With the employee? Will it stay in the employer's pocket?

Anyone heard anything?

[Is It Fascism Yet]

1. straight into Shrub's accounts

[cassiepriam]

2. LOL Take a guess where it will go

PS not our pockets.........

[rooboy]

3. It will mostly go to the fund managers...

who may very well lose it all for you. If my country's experience with this is any guide, you may be able to manage your own fund if it is over a certain threshold (e.g. $100,000).

But it will strictly be on a "don't touch until you are 65" basis.

[girl gone mad]

4. What country are you in?

Chile is the model for what many of the cons want to do with American's SS system.

In Chile, the fund managers get between 15 and 20 percent in fees, compared to the 1 percent we pay in administrative fees.

You're right, it's a gift to the investment banks. Another case of red america voting against their own interests. There aren't many investment banks in Kansas or Idaho.

[rooboy]

16. Australia. n/t

[Azure]

5. Here is the lowdown on privatizing:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Economics/Privat_SocSec_Women.html

[girl gone mad]

6. As others have said..

the money will go into private mutual fund accounts that we cannot touch until we are 65. I don't know how much or how little control we will have over how the money gets invested.

It is a bad plan for so many reasons, not the least of which is that we will end up paying for two Social Security systems at the same time during the transition, and it will be at least a 20 year transition.

This plan also threatens to bring the stock market down, but that's a whole other story.

[Iris]

13. Well, it seems to me 55 million people ought to at least be able to

demand one of the choices for private investing is through a Socially Responsible Investment firm.

[DiverDave]

7. It's another

way for the wealthy to steal your money.
Brokerage houses will make BILLIONS in transaction fees.
AND when your savings evaporate in a "Market Adjustment", they are so sorry, but...
Privitizing SS is a scam.
They will never quit thinking of ways to steal your money.

[izzie]

8. To the people who gave us the Internet bubble.

This does not sound so bad if and I mean IF every dollar in would not have to be un-stuck from some pals of Bush.It is like the oil trading in dollars. Some sticks to us all as it is sold. It brings in money and I can see Wall Street taking a good size cut of this SS. Bush did something like this in the pensions in Tx and his pals ended up with Billions. The people with the pensions did not make out any better. That should be looked into before we do these things. I think it was the state retirement fund or maybe the Univ. fund.

[lawladyprof]

9. But you can already create your retirement acc't in the market

Like an IRA or 401K. Why not just start/put more into those accounts? this is just to get at that $$$ that is deducted for social security, but that $$$ pays for current benefits for the disabled, survivors, and the elderly.

[ithacan]

10. into the hands of con men and brokers

(which two categories are not mutually exclusive...)

[no_hypocrisy]

11. To brokers, fund managers, and to the Dow generally.

The latter meaning that the infusion of cash from Social Security will boost the value of the Dow. It was at 12,000 when Clinton was in office. It's hovering around 10,000 now and * has been unable to elevate it.

It's so simple. Find extra cash, put it into the stock market, and it will boost the Dow overall. This is *'s gift to Wall Street and the corporations.

[girl gone mad]

15. I think it may provide a temporary boost to the stock market.

Long term, all of that money flowing into the markets on a regular basis will ease the volatility and reduce some of the risks associated with trading stocks. As a result, the big indices will begin to produce smaller returns overall. The stock market could become more like the bond market, fairly stable but less profitable.

That's bad for the small investor, but great for the big investors who seek secure investments. It's also good news for the corporations, who hate having to deal with market volatility.

It will be even rarer to see people make their fortunes trading on the stock market, and harder for the average investor to save enough for college and retirement.

[Hubert Flottz]

12. The same place the money went when Enron crashed!

To the Fat Cats! They need mo money!

[Morning Dew]

14. specifically, I mean, where will the employer's contribution go?

is that where the scam in this lies? Will we as employees lose that part of the $$ for retirement and the employers get to feather their nests a bit more?

[spanone]

17. In rich peoples pockets....to Big Business